We would all agree that dead civilians in a war zone are tragic but inevitable. We would all agree that militaries should take all reasonable efforts to minimize the threat and danger to civilians while continuing to strike military assets. Finally, we would probably agree that militaries should also take precautions in their movements and weapons placements and storage of armaments such that they allow for little or no threat of danger to civilians. But should we use different scales when deciding which military forces are taking appropriate efforts as different societies have different standards and place varying importance on the safekeeping of their civilians and about targeting civilians. That last one is a bit trickier and perplexing, right? Let us make it a little easier. Should Israel be judged more harshly for dead Palestinian Arabs when fighting Hamas attacks in a conflict with Gaza than the United States should be judged for dead Iraqi and Syrian Arabs in their fighting the Islamic State (ISIS)? Reading reports in the mainstream media one would believe that the Israelis intentionally target Arab civilians in Gaza while the United States has avoided civilian deaths in Iraq and Syria attacks. This is possibly because the mainstream media supports targeting Israel and attempting to display the IDF and Israeli efforts as immoral and lacking in any precautions against killing civilians while President Obama ordered strikes in Syria and Iraq had to be above all suspicions, completely moral and resulting in minimal civilian deaths. In a Reuters report“At least 352 civilians have been killed in U.S.-led strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria since the operation began in 2014, the U.S. military said in a statement on Sunday.” That is correct, three-hundred-fifty-two civilians killed in United States led strikes since 2014, which makes for an average of approximately one-hundred per year or approaching ten per month. In another statement released and used by Reuters with photo credited as “AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File” showing residents carry the body of several people killed in airstrikes during fighting between Iraq security forces and Islamic State on the western side of Mosul, Iraq, statement released Sunday, April 30, 2017, the Pentagon said investigations conducted during the month of March reveal that coalition airstrikes killed 45 civilians, mostly in and around the city of Mosul. The Pentagon added that in each incident “all feasible precautions were taken,” but the strikes still resulted in “unintentional” loss of civilian life. There have been no explosions of editorials demanding explanations from the United States military or government demanding they make reparations or prove they had taken sufficient measures to prevent civilian deaths. There have been no calls for the United States to be brought before The Hague to answer charges for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity. How can this be and where are the Human Rights groups with highly inflated or differing numbers or an official United Nations count that also would likely disagree with the official Pentagon numbers claiming multiple numbers were in fact killed. Do not expect there to be any such events being committed against the United States. There also have been no reporters confronting American officers in headquarters or in the field demanding to know why so many Iraqi and Syrian Arabs have died and no Americans have died. Simply, you probably did not even know of these deaths until reading this article. Now comes the time to wonder why.

March 24, 2017 file photo, residents carry the body of several people killedin airstrikes during fighting between Iraq security forces and Islamic Stateon the western side of Mosul, Iraq. In a statement released Sunday, April 30, 2017,the Pentagon said investigations conducted during the month of March revealthat coalition airstrikes killed 45 civilians, mostly in and around the city of Mosul.The Pentagon said in each incident “all feasible precautions were taken,”but the strikes still resulted in “unintentional” loss of civilian life.(AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)

Let us return to the seven weeks from July 8, 2014 through August 26, 2014 and the Israel Hamas (Gaza) War. The numbers of civilian casualties released about this conflict varied greatly depending whose numbers you wish to believe. Here are the particulars; the Gaza Health Ministry reported 1,617 Palestinian civilians killed with 10,626 Palestinian militants and civilians wounded; the United Nations Human Rights Council reported 1,462 Palestinian civilians killed; Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported 761 Palestinian civilians with 428 uncategorized males aged 16-50 killed as well as at least 23 Gazans executed by Hamas. The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs also reported that there were 5 Israeli civilians dead (3 killed directly by rocket fire, 2 died of heart attacks after hearing warning sirens), 1 Thai civilian in Israel killed and 87 Israeli civilians wounded. Granted, no matter whose numbers one uses, the number of Israelis affected pales in comparison and this was the number one question the mainstream media asked incessantly for an explanation. This had nothing to do with their lack of knowledge as to the answer, it had everything to do with painting Israel as a monster who worries about their own people but have no regard for the Arabs residing in Gaza. Many reporters acted as if Israel was directly responsible for the protection and care for the people in Gaza as if they were Israeli citizens. Almost none of them displayed any knowledge that starting in August 2005 and completed on September 9, 2005 Israel removed every Israeli, razed everything with the exception of the Greenhouses left for Gazans to use to produce crops and the synagogues as to have bulldozed them would have been a desecration and the IDF removed their last personnel. Those Synagogues were desecrated far worse in the ensuing days by the Arab Palestinians and the greenhouses were stripped bare and used to make weapons and rocket launchers, not grow crops. Hamas took control of Gaza in a coup lasting June 10 through 15 of 2007 and immediately reissued their declaration of intent to destroy Israel and kill every Jew on the Earth. All this history was ignored and the disparity in civilian deaths was the sole news worth reporting. Why was this, one might query.

Well, it was all about what one reporter blurted out in her moment of excitement and whose interview has been scrubbed from history, or at least the internet, where she actually asked, “Where are the dead Jews, I mean, why so many dead in Gaza and none in Israel?” Well, why not simply answer that very question. Despite the vast majority of Hamas rocket and artillery strikes targeting civilian structures to include largely schools, kindergartens, pre-schools, day care facilities, and residential neighborhoods, Israel was fortunate to have been protected by the Iron Dome Batteries which are one of the finest anti-rocket and projectile interceptors the world has ever seen. The Iron Dome determines the projected strike point of any rocket, artillery or mortar fired and if it will be close to any civilian or military built up areas it launches its interceptors, which has over ninety-percent efficiency in taking out its target. There was one major failure of the Iron Dome systems where three interceptors were fired at one of the Hamas larger rockets and all missed. This rocket was headed for the center of Tel Aviv and would have been catastrophic. The easy explanation was a huge puff of wind blew it out into the Mediterranean Sea in the last few seconds, or there is the description and entire story as told by the Iron Dome Battery in question of this incident commanding officer as we reported back when this happened in our article ”How to Fight Terrorist Fanatics Unless You’re Israel”. The reason so few Israelis died is because Israel has built shelters everywhere and requires all new residential structures to have a built in shelter in every apartment, home, row house, etc. as part of the building codes and when the sirens sound in any area the Israelis will drop whatever they are doing and head directly to their closest shelter. If an Israeli is out and does not know where the closest shelter is on their own, they are easy to find, just follow everyone else. Hamas, on the other hand, uses their civilians to protect their rockets and the launchers and often will call in women and children and place them on the roof of any building they wish to protect knowing the Israelis will not bomb such a target. Israeli pilots are required to call headquarters and get clearance before dropping ordinance and there are officers using drones to oversee most missions who will check the target before allowing ordinance release.

There were other completely ridiculous question asked by reporters during the Gaza War and here are a few samples. “Why does Israel not provide Iron Dome Systems to the Gazans?” and “Why has Israel refused to build bomb shelters in Gaza?” As we mentioned, apparently the reporters were not informed that Gaza, is for all technicalities, an independent country and Israel has surrendered all connections and ties to Gaza. The one Israeli connection with Gaza is the blockade, which is more of an inspection for incoming goods to assure that there are no weapons or military useable goods such as weapons grade steel, explosives or other dual-purpose items that could be used in a military means. Israel permitted tons of cement and rebar into Gaza for the reason of humanitarian aid to permit the rebuilding of the homes damaged in the wars. Well over three-fourths of these goods were utilized to build the Hamas tunnel and bunker system underneath Gaza and tunnels into Israel itself. These bunkers are also used to protect the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist fighters but the Gazan civilians would be shot if they entered these bunkers as Hamas and the other terror groups desire maximum civilian casualties which they utilize in the media to paint Israel as a monster while pretending they are too poor because of the blockade to provide protection. What probably would surprise many to know is that Israel continued the daily transfer of aid into Gaza of food, medical supplies and other non-military aid in the tons of material per day. Below is a video of one such transference and here is an article giving the Israeli side and the proof of Israeli assistance to Gazan civilians including setting up a field hospital to treat injured individuals from Gaza. This was one fact which one would have thought might have attracted at least the slightest of curiosity with Israel sending tractor-trailer trucks by the dozens across into Gaza in the midst of a war and perhaps some wonder at how this could happen and not be shot at by Hamas. Well, here is a surprise, Hamas and Islamic Jihad would on some days target the aid deliveries and once it was of such a severe nature that Israel was forced to skip one day’s shipments, as the risk was too great. Additional aid was sent across the next day to make up for the loss of daily aid. What was truly amazing was the fuel was included in these shipments despite that Hamas could fuel their vehicles, as the fuel was also necessary to produce electricity. Even the electricity aided Hamas and the other terror groups but to deny Gaza electricity would have placed a greater burden on the people. Israel also continued to deliver electricity through the shared electrical grid and provided water, clean water, through the interconnected water system. Everything Israel had been providing to the people of Gaza before the war continued to be delivered as best as possible throughout the war and continued after the war. The reports of Israel starving Gazan or refusing them medical treatment are all propaganda spread by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the anti-Israel mainstream media. They all know that they are repeating or stating lies but as long as there are those who choose to believe anything they are told that Jews are acting with malice and committed to evil deeds, then the terrorists, Arab sources and far too many in the mainstream media will all continue to feed these people grist for the mill.

People often ask what Israel could do to prevent these misfortunes from befalling the people of Gaza. The unfortunate answer is that Israel is already doing as much as she can to relieve any suffering by the Gazans. One difficulty is that Hamas will regularly refuse to permit Gazans from seeking additional and often-necessary medical treatment in Israel as that can be used to claim that Israel refuses to provide medical aid. The truth is when Hamas and other terror leaders’ families require advanced medical treatment, guess where they are treated? The answer can be found here, here, here, here, here and one possibly repeat here. Israel is not the monster reported all too often in the news. Israel cares deeply about her own people but also is concerned for the well-being of those who are her sworn enemies. This confuses many in the media so they simply paint a picture they can be happy with, not that the truth would accept. The aid sent during the war is likely one of the most positive proofs that Israel is anything but what is too often reported, sometimes in Israeli mainstream news as well. The truth is worth digging for even if one had to suffer through some news slanted in the other direction, sometimes getting a variety of views helps clear the vision. The diametric opposite treatments of Israel compared to the news about the United States and civilian casualties is striking. We do not mean to impugn the United States in any way as they too make the most honest of efforts to avoid civilian casualties.

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